Vertical-striping attachment for circular-knitting machines.



F. W. ROBINSON.

VERTIGAL STRIPING ATTACHMENT FOR CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 27, 1910.

' atented Nov. 4, 1913.

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I. W. ROBINSON. VERTICAL STRIPING ATTACHMENT FOR, CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 27 1910.

wanmaq UNITED STATES; PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK W. ROBINSON, OF. READING, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE NOLDE 60 HORST COMPANY, OF READING, PENNSYLVANIA, A. CORPORATION OF PENN- SYLVANIA.

Warren-ermine Arracn'mnmr non CIRCULAR-KNITTING MACHINES.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

Application filed January 27;, 1910. Serial No. 540,334.

Zo all whom; it, may concern:

Be it known that I, FRAN W. RoBmsoN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident -of the city of Reading, in the county of Berks and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Vertical-Striping Attachments for Circular-Knitting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to-circular knitting machines, and consists in providing in connection therewith mechanism whereby an additional thread or threads may be interwoven with the fabric as desired to produce continuous or broken ornamental stri es extending lengthwise of the fabric.

e invention is fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment of the same, and the novel features are pointed out in the claims.

Figure 1 is a sectional elevation show-, ing my invention applied to a knitting mach ne; the outward radial swing of the striping-thread carrier for engaging the thread or threads upon a determined needle or needles, being indicated in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is. a cross-sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; one of the striping-thread carriers being shown in cross-section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 3, and another with a portion of one of the carrier-tilting arms broken away. ,Fig. 3' is an enlarged viewshowing the mounting of the striping-thread carrier,- and indicating in dotted lines the lateral swing of the latter along the line of needles. Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view incheating the engagin motion of a stripingthread about a nee le as effected by the swing imparted to, its carrier.

The needle cylinder 2, needles 3, and ro-,

. tatable ca cylinder 4, indi a e the parts of an ordinary independent needle circular knitting machine, in connection with which my mventionis employed. The additional mechanism which embodies the invention is mainly mounted upon the frame 5 of. the machine, as shown, by means of a rigidly fixed column (Shaving a horizontal arm 7 in the apertured end 8 of which is secured \\a axially arranged guide rod 10 'upon i whic th main parts are supported. This :tured arm-end 8 by means of a set screw 11 ?and an adjustable supporting collar 12, is provided at its extended upper end,- with a bobbin table or plate 13 on which the stripiing-thread bobbin or bobbins 14 are mountied, and above which is secured a tensiondevice ring 15 having suitable tension disks j 16. between which each thread is passed from a'bobbin and thence to a stripin -thread carfrier as hereafter'described. T e knittingthread bobbin 18 as shown is mounted on aside post 19 fixed to a bracket 20 on the rotary cam cylinder.

' Upon the, lower portion of the rod 10, are strung, as shown, separate carrier-bearin sleeves 25 and 26, each of which is provi ed with one or more bearings in which ,gto mount the striping-thread carriers 35. fThe lower sleeve 26 is shown as normally positioned on the rod 10 by means of an {adjustable supporting collar 27 and the upper sleeve .25 is shown positioned adjacent to it by suspending spring-plate 28 which is adjustably connected to an upper supporting collar 29. As shown the upper sleeve 26 is also adapted to beraised upon the rod 10, so that all the striping-thread carriers 35 may be raised to inoperative position without ad'usting the'rod 10 in the column-arm 7 t ough those connected with the sleeve 25 are adapted to be separately raised so as to throw certain only of the carriers out of service, independently of the other means hereafter described for accomplishing this. A guide pin 30 depending from the upper collar 29, serves to prevent turning of the sleeves and thereby retains these carriers 35 in determined relat ion to certain of the knitting needles.

Each of the carriers 35 for the stripingthreads' 86,, has a universal-joint connection to a bearing therefor on the adjustably fixed 'sleeve 25 or 26, so as to provide a free suspension which will permit of swinging the rod 10, wine rash own secured in the aper projected arm 43.011, said stem; and the block is secured to an apertured cover plate 44, which in turn is suitably fastened to sleeve 25 or 26 as the case may be. To provide for positively limiting the lateral swing of the thread carrier I preferably provide an adjustable stop-plate 45 on said cover plate 44-, against which the extended stem 39 may be arranged to contact.

The depending head of the striping-thread carrier 35 has one or more thread-eyes 50 in the horizontal plate portion 51 thereof above the needles, through which eyes are passed the threads extending from the bobbins 14.

A rearwardly depending-fork portion 52 of the carrier is provided to preliminarily engage the free ends of these threads as indicated. The particular number of threads provided for in each carrier is immaterial, the drawing however showing a row of five eyes 50, spaced apart to correspond with the spacing of the needles, around certain of which latter the threads are bent by a swinging movement imparted to the carrier 35 above them. This swinging movement, which is permitted by the universal joint connect-ion of the carrier to its fixed bearing 36, is effected as shown by means of a cam (30, which latter is adjustably mounted upon the bobbin post 19 of the rotary cam cylinder, and is suitably shaped to act in passing upon each of the carriers arranged in its path. This action upon each carrier must produce a compound movement of the latter substantially as indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 4, so as to cause each of its threads to be wrapped around a determined needle at each passage of the cam 60: that is, the carrier must first be swung radially outward so as to carry each of its threads between two adjacent needles, or from an inner point a to an outer point I) as indicated in the diagram; then laterally the distance of the needle spacing to a point a; and then radially inward between the needles and to the starting point a.

As shown the freely suspended carrier35 is normally held in position corresponding with the diagrammatic starting point a, by a retracting spring 70. The radial swinging movement is imparted to it by arranging the friction-roller end 71 or 72, of the horizontally projected arm 43 of the carrier stem 39, in the path of the cam 60, so that it will be lifted in a vertical plane by the passage of the latter. To provide for effecting the immediately following lateral movement, from point I) to c of Fig. 4, I provide, as shown, a lateral branch 73 on the arm 43, having a parallel friction roller end, 74 or 75, rojected into the path of the cam 60, so tiat as the latter asses beneath it, it will be swung upward in an are 76 (Fig. 3), and thereby impart the required lateral swing to the carrier head. As the cam successively passes the roller projections of the carrier the latter is returned by the spring 7 O to the starting point a as indicated, ready for a repetition of the thread-engaging movement by the succeeding passage of the cam 60.

Certain of the carriers, or all of them if desired, may be thown out of action to intermit the striping, by vertically adjusting the carrier-bearing sleeves 25 and 26 employed in the described construction. To provide for conveniently stopping certain of the stripes which extend in the line of the heel and foot portions of a stocking, I preferably use shorter rollered projections (71 and 74) on the carriers employed for making such stripes, than those (72 and 75) .employed on the full-length striping-carriers; and adjustably secure the cam 60 in its clamping support 80 on the post 19 so as to permlt of its being adjusted in position to either engage all of the carriers, or only those provided with the extended roller projections 72 and 75 or so as to disengage all of them if desire What I claim is 1. In combination with a circular knitting machine having vertically guided needles and an operating cam cylinder therefor provided with an exterior cam, a freely suspended spring-retracted thread carrier having its thread-eye adapted to swing above said needles and rovided with spaced-apart projections into t e path of said cam whereby the latter in passing will impart successive radial and lateral. movements to the carrier whereby said thread-eye is swung around the axis of a determined needle.

2. In combination with a circular knitting machine having vertically guided nee dles and an operating cam cylinder therefor provided with an exterior cam, a fixed carrier-bearing above said needles, and a thread-carrier freely, suspended in said bearing with its thread-eye above said needles, said suspended carrier being operated by said cam so as to impart a swinging movement to the thread-eye thereof around the axis of a determined needle.

3. In combination with a circular knitting machine having vertically guided needles and an operating cam cylinder therefor provided with an exterior cam, a fixed carrier-bearing above said needles, and a thread-carrier freely suspended in said bearing with its thread-eye above said needles, said suspended carrier being operated by said cam so as to impart a swinging movement to the thread-eye thereof around the axis of a determined needle; and means for freeing said carrier from the action of the cam.

4. In combination with a circular knitting machine having vertically guided needles and an operating cam cylinder therefor provided with a radially adjustable exterior lit cam, separate thread carriers all freely susof said carriers as determined by-the cam pended above said needles and provided adjustment. 10 with projections into the normal path of In testimony whereof, I afiix my signasaid cam, and certain of them only havin ture, in the presence of two witnesses.

projections into another path of said a FRANK W. ROBINSON. justable cam, whereby the latter in passin \Vitnesses: Wlll impart successive radial and latera D. M. STEWART,

swinging movements to all, or certain only, W. G. STEWART. 

